The Desolation of Smaug - Trailer Review

Well the trailer for the second installment of the Hobbit trilogy is finally here, and it looks like its set to be a fun and exciting adventure. The trailer seems to tell us that the film will take us through the mirkwood forests with the defeat of Smaug being the films conclusion. This tells us that Stephen Fry should appear in this installment.

This film seems to be more action packed than its predecessor. One of my criticisms of this films predecessor was that too much time was spent with gags and getting to know and differentiate the different dwarves, however this film seems action packed, and there looks to be a lot of action. One of the scenes which appears in this film and which is particularly celebrated is the escape from Lake Town in the barrels, which will appear in this film.

This film signifies the return of Legolas to the big screen, with the addition of Tauriel played by Evangeline Lily as mirkwood elves, giving the film a much needed female character, who is not present in the book. The film adds a subplot involving the mirkwood elves, who help in defeating the orcs attempting to capture the dwarves. The film also continues the subplot involving Gandalf and Radagast, exploring the castle in which lies the necromancer, who will ultimately rise to power. My only qualm with this trailer is that Smaug should not have been shown in the trailer, but revealed in the movie, seeing as his appearance was deliberately teased in the first film.

Overall the film looks very good, and looks to solve many of the issues of its predecessor, being more action packed. The bulk of this story takes place in mirkwood, and the elves seem to have a huge presence in  this film, yet it remains to be seen if we will again meet the White Council. Overall this is a fun trailer for what looks to be a hugely exciting film. Trailer Rating: A

 

The Future of Stop-Motion

This year marked the occurrence of an unusual phenomenon at the Academy Awards. This year out of the five films nominated for the Best Animated Feature Award, three of them were stop motion films. Frankenweenie, The Pirates! and Paranorman were nominated, though of course Brave won. Stop motion is a technique which uses models of varying scales and a camera in order to create a moving image. The model is moved slightly between each photo, up to 20 times a second. This is an intensely labourious process, and it can take a week to produce a minute of film.

One of the most famous and celebrated stop motion films is the Nightmare Before Christmas, which is responsible for popularizing the genre and which remains one of the most influential stop motion pictures to this day. The technique provides a distinct look, and adds depth and grounds the animation. There is also generally a quirkiness to stop-motion, and i do not think there is a single stop-motion film which can be accused of being generic, as the films often have unique visual identities and stunning cinematography, it is also a more flexible form of animation, in that it is easier to visualise the sets and the characters,

and easier to visualize the shot than with regular hand drawn animation, where pans and wipes are rarely used.

These films often have darker and more adult stories than regular animated films, they are also normally originals, and are rarely adaptations of fairy tales such as are typical animated films. The reason for their darker themes in my opinion is twofold. Firstly the influence of Tim Burton's work on this sub genre cannot be understated, and The Nightmare Before Christmas remains hugely influential. Secondly the technique of stop-motion lends itself to this kind of story, as the animation tends to look a little more jerky and less smooth, and thus is appropriate for this kind of subject.
 
3D is a technique that is being used more and more with stop-motion, with 'Nightmare' being the first film to be converted to 3D in post production, with subsequent films such as Frankenweenie also using conversion therapy to add a 3D effect. Paranorman on the other hand was shot in 3D, using a specialized rig which moved the camera after each photo, thus taking an identical photo but with slightly different perspective for each photo taken, and it is perhaps the first stop-motion film to be shot in 3D. Paranorman and Coraline also pioneered the use of 3D printers for printing faces, diminishing sculpting time.

Overall stop motion is a hugely exciting form of animation, and one which is only being enhanced with the use of computer generated imagery and 3D shooting. And it is a form of animation at which Tim Burton really does excel.

Un Monstre A Paris

Well, it seems that this film is a paradox in its very essence, a good french animation film. A Monster In Paris is a film set in the 1910's in Paris, and is a tale about two friends, and a nightclub singer who has to hide a giant insect from the authorities. The film is a playful homage to old films, and the protagonist works as a projectionist in a movie theater, and often films his surroundings.

The voice actors are not particularly noteworthy, however talented, except for the two leads. The nightclub singer, Lucille, a woman who hides the fugitive monster, and attempts to gently reject the advances of the chief of police. The monster of the title is played by Sean Lennon, and has no speaking lines whatsoever, but sings some pretty good songs nonetheless. The film contains multiple homages to old movies, most pronouncedly The Phantom of the Opera, and the film uses a beautiful art nouveau inspired animation.

The film is a musical and the songs are a fusion of folk rock inspired and Parisian vaudeville music hall inspired songs, which feel modern yet distinctively french, and which have a timeless feel yet which still hark back to turn of the century France. The film is stunningly animated, and is one of the most beautiful non Disney animated films i have ever seen, with the film using art nouveau inspired art direction, with the characters seeming slightly caricatured, yet not repulsive, and in particular the scene in which Lucille sings with the monster, is absolutely stunning, and is possibly the most beautiful CG animation i have seen in years. Gone is the generic animation used by Dreamworks, and instead we are given something unique and memorable.

Overall I really liked this film, it is a heartwarming homage to old cinema, has a great story and wonderful animation. The story is original and fun, and the climax of the film features some simply beautiful camera angles. The film struggles to find an audience, with it perhaps being too sophisticated for children, and not containing the duality of PIXAR films, perhaps explaining the films disappointing box office returns, however it is a truly original animated film in my humble opinion, and is a heartfelt love letter to classic cinema. Rating: A-

Bewitched Review

A semi sequel to the cult sixties TV series which is still popular today, Bewitched is a comedy about a feal life witch who decides to give up being a witch, and who attempts to live a normal life, and not use her powers. The film is not a direct sequel or continuation of the TV series, despite having plot similarities with the series, the film is set in a world in which the series exists, and is referenced multiple times, the main character is an actress who is acting in a revival of the series.

Overall i like the premise of the film, i think it is smart, tongue in cheek and pleasantly self referential, and i like the fact that the plot concept is significantly updated from the series. This is for a good reason, the series was set in the sixties and seventies, when being a housewife was the norm, and the film significantly modernizes this concept, with Samantha becoming a single working woman, whilst retaining the overall essence of the series, with the main character trying to hide her 'gift'.

Nicole Kidman stars as the Isabel Bigelow, a witch who attempts to become normal, and the performance is refreshing and comedic, a departure from Kidman's usual dramatic performances. Will Ferrell stars as Jack Wyatt, and arrogant actor. Here the casting is problematic, i have never been a huge fan of Ferrell, and here he plays a failing, has-been, irritating actor, and the film from then on becomes an uncomfortable metaphor, with the characters history mirroring that of Ferrell himself, with the actors once promising future now, unfortunately, in the gutter. Good time for an anchorman revival anyone?The plot of the film starts of being engaging and sweet, whilst quickly going downhill into a mess of silliness and typical overacting. The pairing of Kidman and Ferrell is also slightly odd, with the two lacking any real chemistry.

Overall the film despite having an interesting concept and an engaging performance from its leading lady, slowly tumbles down to its messy messy demise in a cacophony of silliness and slapstick which do little to improve the chemistry of its on screen couple, or the films convoluted plot, in other words, a disappointment. Rating: C

Blue Jasmine - Trailer Review

Well, finally less than two months until the release of Woody Allen's new picture a trailer has been released. The film is called Blue Jasmine and stars Cate Blanchett in the title role, as a society housewife. Alec Baldwin also stars as her husband, It is the first time Blanchett is working with Allen, and Baldwin's second collaboration with his after last years To Rome With Love. The film is set an was filmed in New York and San Francisco, and can be seen as a homecoming for Allen, who has spent the last few years in Europe.

The film stars Cate Blanchett as a fashionable New York housewife, a woman who is going through the acute stages of a midlife crisis, and who goes to live with her sister. Blanchett seems good in the role, and manages to be heartwarmingly funny and heartbreakingly sad in the same moment, and manages to successfully portray a woman who is wry and sarcastic, but who doesn't seem to be arrogant. Baldwin is oddly absent from the trailer, more peculiar still given that his is given second billing in this film.

The trailer overall is entertaining yet deceptively cryptic about the events of this film, showing us nothing that we don't already know from the official release, yet overall this looks to be a solid Woody Allen flick, and one that will no doubt be illuminating and entertaining.  As always the trailer contains that certain joy that Allen seems able to conjure on demand these days, with what looks to be a solid performance from it's leading lady. Trailer Rating:B+

Only God Forgives

Well, this weeks cinema outing is so impressionable that it even encouraged me to coin the adjective 'Ryan Gosling', meaning a bloated pseudo-artistic pretentious movie. I didn't think it was possible at the time but this movie is so much worse than 'the place beyond the pines'. The films stars Ryan Gosling as Julian,  a man exiled in bankok, running a boxing club as a front for his families drug running business . Kristen Scott Thomas stars as his mother, who comes to collect Julians brothers body, and who asks him to get revenge.

Overall this film is really really boring, at only an hour and a half it feels way too long, and i found myself almost falling asleep only to be woken from my slumber by the metallic whip of a limb being cut off. The film is a complete paradox in that is manages to be underscripted and overscripted simultaneously, on one hand there is barely dialogue, and not enough story to fill a feature picture, the spaces in between the dialogue is filled with shots of good

looking people staring at doors. Then on the other hand, the film is overscripted, in that all the dialogue is so ponderous and 'artsy' and none of it actually seems genuine or real.

The film is neither successfully nor poorly acted, its simply non-acted, neither of the leads really sell their characters, and the lack of dialogue doesn't help this. The film is also really poorly lit, with an over use of red lights, clearly intended to make the film 'artistic' The film has little or no emotion, an presents characters which it is unclear if the audience is supposed to care about or not, this and the gratuitous use of violence makes for a dull ride. The film goes way too far with the violence, with it being overused and bluntly used with no depth or subtlety, and feels needless.

Overall 'Only God Forgives' is a bad film, and one which is really really boring with a load of gratuitous violence, it is a film which pretends to be 'artistic' and which ends up being bloated, self important and with a ludicrously thin script, an exercise in masturbatory film-making. On the plus side i guess Ryan Gosling does look cute, even bathed in red light. Rating: C-

Billy: Time to meet the devil.

Pixar and the Art of Storytelling

Well, with an hour and a half on ones hands there are few things as heartwarming as a PIXAR movie, really more suitable for adults, PIXAR must have one of the most acclaimed back catalogs, with Cars 2 being possibly the only exception,  garnering mixed reviews from critics and audiences, with the amount of merchandise this franchise sells for Disney possibly being the imputes for this movie. PIXAR was originally a company set up to build animation and special effects hardware, and the original short was created to promote the capabilities of PIXAR computers. PIXAR then went on to create Toy Story, the first completely computer animated motion picture. The early PIXAR films were distributed by Disney, until Disney purchased the company and entire back catalog in 2006 for $7.4 billion.

PIXAR movies are unquestionably great, with the stories being sophisticated and heartwarming. All of PIXAR's films focus on a simple relationship, and however epic the story the whole film hinges on a friendship between two people. The best example of this is Up, in which the plot about flying to South America is secondary in importance to the relationship between this old man and young boy. Toy Story also focuses around a relationship, and the importance of friendship. The films are also great looking, however flashy animation is also secondary to storytelling, and the animation focuses not on photorealism but on realistic full formed characters, and on characters who look caricatured.

Overall PIXAR is a darn special studio, and one with an impressive back catalog, and a knack for imaginative and realistic storytelling, without resorting to creepy animation or photo-realism, and whose pictures can be enjoyed by adults in some cases more than children, and which focus on storytelling rather than technological gimmicks, a little ironic given that it was a company set up to sell technology and computers!

Movie 43

This one is a puzzler, being named by critics the 'Citizen Kane of awful', Movie 43 was released in january, and was instantly panned, and became known as the worst film of all time. The film was produced by Richard Bransons 'Vrigin Produced'. The film is an anthology movie, and consists of multiple short films, tied together with a narrative involving either a movie pitch, or a group of teenagers trying to download a fictional film entitled movie 43, depending on version. The film stars more Oscar winners than probably any other movie, but even its cast is not enough to save this movie from the inevitable bargain bin.

The film actually starts sort of well, once we get past the tiresome intro featuring irritating teenagers, the first short features Kate Winslet and Hugh Jackman, as a man and woman on a blind date, with her discovering a rather unsettling pair of testicles growing from the mans neck, which no one else seems to notice. The short is sort of funny, despite neither actor being known for comedy, and the idea is at least a little original.

The second short is also funny, starring Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts as a couple homeschooling their son, and trying to give him the complete high school experience, this short despite being based on a pitifully thin story is rather funny, and the leads have a sort of deadpan humor which kind of works. However from then the film falls faster than an anvil in a buggs bunny cartoon, with the next skit being a painfully unfunny story about a woman wanting her boyfriend to poo on her, really?

The rest of the film is aggressively unfunny, with only one exception, the film about Halle Berry going on a blind date and indulging in a game of truth or dare, which is sort of clever, and which has a mildly amusing conclusion; but the real problem with this film is that most of the shorts, even the funnyest ones would be rejected by saturday night live. The odd thing about this film is that the shorts involving real comedy actors are so much less funny than those starring Halle Berry and Kate Winslet, which is a little odd.

Overall Movie 43 is aggressively bad, with most of the shorts being painfully unfunny, and the ridiculous subplot involving trying to download movie 43, and some very obnoxious youths. So overall as much as my anarchic tendencies wanted to like this movie, it was a painful flop of atomic proportions, and was explosively irritating. Rating: D

Behind the Candelabra

Well, yesterday night had to be the most camp evening ever, with a science fiction double feature consisting of the HBO film Behind the Candelabra, and my all time favorite movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Behind the Candelabra stars Michael Douglas as famed piano player Liberace, and Matt Damon plays his much younger lover, Scott Thorson. The film was dierected by Steven Soderberg, director of Magic Mike and Erin Brokovich. The film is adapted from the autobiographical novel written by Scott Thorson entitled 'My Life With Liberace' detailing his relationship with Liberace, detailing the periods he spent with Liberace up until the musicians death of complications from AIDS

Michael Douglas is absolutely fantastic as Liberace, an entertainer who was at one point the highest paid entertainer in the world, and who was a closeted homosexual, who was subsequently sued by his chauffeur and former lover. Liberace was known for his flamboyant extroverted performances, which always featured a candelabra on the piano, hence the title. Douglas manages to craft a man who looks beyond the high camp of what

the world saw, and who manages to craft a real human being from the pieces of hi-jinx.

Matt Damon is also great as Scott Thorson, a young man who met Liberace when he was only sixteen and Liberace was 51, and who is taken in by the inexorable world of fame, money and Christal! Damon is also fantastic in the role, as a young man who struggles to cope with his life, and who finally sees the loneliness which hides behind the facade of fame and glamour, and who falls down the rabbit hole of fame into a pit of addiction and obsession.

 

Overall Behind the Candelabra is a fantastic film, and manages to show the audience behind the facade, and which features simply fantastic performances from its leads, and which is well handled by Soderberg. The film looks great, and the clothes and the mansion are recreated with a stunning accuracy and vibrancy, and which remains respectful to the man and the relationship upon which this story is based, and never parodies or ridicules the events portrayed. This is a fantastic film which is sure over time to become one of my all time favorite films, and which is delightfully acted and beautifully shot. Rating: A+

Liberace: Too Much of a good thing is wonderful

Soaring Over the Uncanny Valley

The uncanny valley is perhaps a term which is best described graphically, human emotion upon seeing figures which are more and more human become more and more positive. That is until we see figures which appear human enough,yet which lack the subtleties which real humans have, such as wrinkles, facial hair, and a deft subtlety of expression,and our emotion becomes instantly negative, thus the uncanny valley. The graph finally rises upon vision of a true human, ie, the 'most human' figure possible. This deep trench is known as the uncanny valley, and is called so due to these figures having an uncanny similarity to humans, yet falling short of entirely resembling humans, many films have fallen into this trap, in particular films which rely on motion capture, a notoriously difficult technique to perfect.

A Graphic Explanation of the Uncanny Valley Concept

The most famous film to have fallen into this trench is undoubtedly 'The Polar Express', a film by celebrated director Robert Zemeckis, director of Back to the Future and Forrest Gump, Zemeckis decided that motion capture was simply the way to go, and that he could cast Tom Hanks in multiple roles, in a delightful story about little children going on a train to see santa, however the film was a critical failure, with critics and audiences feeling that this film failed to bridge the valley, and that the characters looked creepy and lifeless, personally i would describe this film as akin to a video game, with many of the characters appearing to have little gravity, and seeming overly fake, too real yet not real enough at the same time, what a paradox!

The  creepy zombie kids finally get to meet Santa!

The second film to befoul the valley was Beowulf, also directed by Zemecki, however here many felt that the use of effects was simply unnecessary, and that again the characters looked creepy, and do we really need to cover the divine Angelina Jolie with a CGI cloak, how rude! Zemeckis' next two films would also fall short and hard, A Christmas Carol and Mars Needs Moms were also released to a limp critical response and lukewarm box office receipts, with the latter being the biggest box office bomb of all time, loosing over 136 million dollars for Walt Disney Pictures.

 

Finally we come to two films which manage to avoid this pitfall, and which manage to soar over the valley through realism into hyperrealism, and which manage not to have its audiences cringing, he first of these and also surprisingly one of the earliest uses of motion character is the character of Gollum, who at the time was the most complex character ever, and which manages to look ultra realistic; scabs, warts, straggly hair and all, and which manages not to be too unsettling to its audience.

Oddly enough this is not too unsettling

Another film which uses motion capture to a fantastic effect is the Adventures Of Tinitn, and is really the only example to date of a feature length motion capture animation picture managing to leap over the gorge and leave us excited rather than unsettled, and using characters which have gravitas and weight, and which manage to look fantastically realistic, and yet not too realistic, it is a ludicrously fine line between disturbing and not and this film nails it, it is worth noting that this film was produced by Peter Jackson, acclaimed director of the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, who also used motion capture for his 2005 film King Kong. All three of these films also starred Andy Serkis.

In conclusion motion capture is a technique which can so easily go wrong, as shown by the fast majority of Robert Zemekis' animation canon, however when done right, it can be really really great, and when nailed it is truly a fantastic medium.

Ginger & Rosa - A Review

There are few things as good as being alone in a movie theater, being completely alone is as social an experience as any. Ginger & Rosa is a British film directed by Sally Potter, which focuses of the tumultuous friendship between two girls, growing up during the start if the cold war and the Cuban missile crisis, and dealing with family struggles and the sexual revolution. Elle Fanning stars as Ginger, a young girl who has to deal with her parents divorce, and wanting to save the world for fear of a nuclear holocaust. Christina Hendricks stars as her mother, and Anette Bening as a friend of her godparents, and fellow activist, who acts as a mentor to Ginger.

The film is a period piece set in england during the sixties, and is beautifully shot, shunning the personally much loathed handheld 'shakycam' for a much smoother and more coherent style, capturing the weak english sunlight, and the bleakness of the era. The film despite being beautifully shot, has a disappointingly weak script, and despite the dialogue often being engaging and insightful, the film has an irritatingly rambling plot which despite being engaging in the moment often seems to be going nowhere, and is at times rambling and vague, with the plot seeming to be made up as it goes along, and with a frustrating lack of an overarching plot line or story arc, with most of the film being focused on character development rather than character development.

Elle fanning is a revelation in the title role, and despite being only fifteen, manages to add a gravitas to the role of Ginger, and manages to truly inhabit her, also taking on her accent with an almost 'Daniel Day Lewis' like aplomb, and playing the character with a subtlety which makes us truly believe in her, and experiencing her pain as if it were our own, leaving the audience bewildered and destabilized leaving the theater, feeling, like Ginger as if our world too is about to collapse, bring on the Oscars!

Overall Ginger and Rosa despite not being a bad film, is not a particularly good one either, and even the performances from Fanning, Hendricks and Bening are not enough to save this film from its rambling and vague plot, however Fanning's breakthrough performance alone means that despite this films many flaws, it is simply too beautiful and well acted to ignore. Rating: B+ (Fannings Performance: A+!)

Ginger: We had a dream, that we would always be best friends.

Ed Wood

A lonely hotel in St Malo around Christmas would lead me to watch Ed Wood, you see before there was The Mad Hatter and co, we had good, understated and subtle Johnny Depp performances, and before we had a Tim Burton whose films were based on appearance, and CGI, we had films such as Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd, and Ed Wood. Ed Wood is a biopic of a real life director, known for directing Plan 9 from outer space, and Glen or Glenda, and for being awarded the golden turkey award naming him the worst director of all time, and earning him legions of new fans and a cult following. Depp stars as Ed Wood and Sarah Jessica Parker stars as his girlfriend, Dolores Fuller.

The film shows us Ed Wood, as he is trying, and failing to make it in Hollywood as a film director, struggling to find financing for his next film, due to his last film being universally panned. Dolores suggests financing the film independently, and so whilst attempting to gain funding for his film he meets his longtime idol Bela Lugosi, a famous film star who he convinces to star in his new picture. The independent financing results in Dolores being demoted to a supporting role, and the production being crowded by financiers.

This is a fantastic film, and its success lies in the fact that its protagonist is admittedly a little eccentric, yet the film manages to looks at the quirks of the main character, whilst never making fun of Ed, and whilst never ridiculing him or making him the but of a joke. The film is shot in black and white, an audacious choice, and one which almost jeopardized the films creation, but one which pays off, due to the fact that the film manages to mimic the films that it attempts to parody, and the film retains the visual aspect of the time, and there is no jarring against the visual style and the cinematography.

This film contains the best cast that i have seen in some time, Johnny Depp is simply astounding in the title role, and manages to infuse a humanity into a man whohas been ridiculed for so long, and who could easily become camp and gratuitously ridiculous, however the man becomes a character, and we empathize with him despite his faliures. Sarah Jessica Parker is good as Dolores Fuller, a struggling actress who clearly loves Ed despite his flaws, and who attempts to stick with him despite what the rest of the world must think. Martin Landau is stunning as Bela, a man who is depressed and an addict, and whom the rest of the world has forgotten. The rest of the cast is made up by Bill Murray, Jeffrey Jones and Patricia Arquette, and each of these actors manage to create characters who are delightfully kooky, yet also well rounded and who manage to seem like real people, and are not overly caricatured.

Overall Ed Wood is a delightful film, it is fun and stylish, artistic and clever, and provides an insight into the life of a man whose body of work is often lampooned, and a stellar performance from Depp make this film a must watch for anyone, yet more so for Burton fans, this film being truly one of Burton's best. Rating: A

Shame

Well, it appears I have gone down the same route as so many other trilogies do, and have rather tactlessly tacked on a fourth installment to the unofficial Carey Mulligan trilogy, oops, however Shame is a film that is too interesting to resist, and that is thought provoking, yet should not be watched with ones parents. The film stars Michael Fassbender as a sex addict living in new york, who falls down into a rabbit hole of lies, sex, darkness and more sex, until it threatens to consume his whole life. Carey Mulligan stars as his sister, who comes into his life, disrupting his carefully planned routine, and breaking the fragile web in which he has cocooned himself, and which allows him to conceal his addiction from the world.

Michael Fassbender is great in the role, even more striking is the fact that this film has little dialogue, and Fassbender manages to show us a man falling apart, and who clings to the last fragment, whilst never being loathsome, and allowing us to see him as an inherently good man. Carey Mulligan stars as his sister, and together these actors show us two people who clearly have darkness in their past, and to whom something happened when they were young, but which both of them cannot speak of. The film shows some tension between these characters, undertones which may be interpreted as incestuous, one scene in particular in which Fassbenders character finds Mulligans in the shower, yet she makes no attempt to cover herself, and seems to relish the affection.

The film was controversial at the time as it was given an NC-17 rating, and the filmmakers made no attempt to cut it down or edit it, and this film was seen as legitimizing the rating, and showing that a film could be powerful and thought provoking, and also contain strong sexual content and adult themes. The film is accurate in the way it shows addiction, and the way it shows a man trying to get his fix, and not even enjoying the experiences he goes through, and even going to hiring prostitutes and gay clubs in order to have sex, with his experiences not having anything to do with sexual preference. The film also shows how his addiction affects his sister, who finally breaks down, and can no longer cope with the disaster that her life has become.

Overall this is a masterful film, with a great plot and message which is thought provoking and powerful, and which is worth a watch simply for the great performances of its leads. Rating: A

  Sissy Sullivan: We're not bad people. We just come from a bad place.

Trance - A Thriller By Danny Boyle

Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing a delightful little Danny Boyle movie called 'Trance', starring James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson and Vincent Cassel, the film is about an art autioneer who is involved in a robbery, and yet is hit on the head, and thus after the painting goes missing, cannot remember where he mislaid it, and thus sees a hypnotherapist, who puts him into trance states in order to see into his subconscious and recover the painting.

This film was directing by Danny Boyle, director of the 28 series, Millions, and the Olympic opening ceremony, and is partially based on a 2001 TV movie which Boyle was involved with of the same name. The film is a thriller which blends dreams and reality, in which the audience is often unaware as to which state we are viewing the scene through, and scenes will start out by making the audience think that they are 'real' and will then be discovered to be trance scenes. This is why the film makes no attempt to give the two states different visual identities, so as to blur the line between reality and fantasy for the audience, a smart move, given the way the director tries to trick the audience, often succeeding!

Rosario Dawson plays the films hypnotherapist, and who sees a way to gain from the situation, Dawson succeeds in carrying a large part of the film, and manages to play a double character, a woman who is seen in two different ways by the main character, and who has to seem like a new character with a history and no history simultaneously, Vincent Cassel plays a villain who masterminds the operation, and James McAvoy is pretty much a piece of furniture, in his role as Simon, the conduit through whom we see this action unfold. It is bloody hard to write about this film without giving too much away, and despite this being bloody frustrating, it is, in a sense a tribute to the tightness of the plot, with this story being so complex that it is near impossible to analyze it without giving the game away, however the film deals with themes of how we view people, and how our first opinions of people are indicative of how we view their actions later on.

My only criticism of this film is that towards the end is that the twists and turns of the plot can become frustrating, and it can seem too much towards the end and seems as if the director is 'playing' with the audience! In conclusion this is a tightly plotted and fun film which has a great plot and good performances from its leads, in particular that of Rosario Dawson. Rating: A-

Elizabeth: The choice is yours. Do you want to remember or do you want to forget?

A New Hope

Hell just froze over, I never thought that I would see the day that I, of all people, would actually watch a star wars movie, and I also never thought the day would come that I would actually enjoy it. This is a part of the post in which i would normally talk about the history of a film, however this is such a famous film that i feel it is more appropriate to talk about the legacy and influence of this film. It was released in 1977 and started a whole new genre of science fiction films dubbed 'Space Opera', a genre which combined mythology with science fiction, and over thirty years later Star Wars is as modern as ever.

The film centers around an alternative universe, and follows a group of freedom fighters who call themselves the rebel alliance, as they plot to destroy the Deathstar, a super-weapon capable of destroying planets lorded over by the evil Darth Vader. The film is set in various places in the galaxy, and focuses on a young boy, Luke Skywalker, who finds himself caught up in the rebel alliance and decides to team up with Jedi Night; Obi Wan Kenobi and leader Princess Leia on an attempt to destroy the Deathstar and save the galaxy.

The film is notable in the way it uses desert settings, and rural environments, such as are not usually found in science fiction films. Yet the fim also retains the traditional spaceship environments such as are found in traditional science fiction films. The film was revolutionary upon its release for its use of visual effects. The film stars Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, the character around whom the story revolves, and a relatively unknown Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Carrie Fisher really shines as Princess Leia, and somehow manages to act through that crazy yet fabulous hair!

The real star is Alec Guinness, as Obi Wan, a former Jedi Knight and Master during the clone wars, and who introduces Luke to the force. Guinness was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the film, a rare coup for a film like this. On a personal level i was really impressed with this film, especially as a alleged non-fan of this series, and i found the film to make a great balance between effects heavy action sequences, and more personal journeys, such as the journey of a boy struggling to be a man and to find his place in the universe, and i will conclude by saying that i really loved this movie, I will now be watching the other five and have high hopes for the seventh. Rating: A

Obi-Wan: The Force will be with you, always.

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go is a british film adapted from famed the novel by Man-Booker prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro. The film stars british actors Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Kiera Knightly. I am considering this post as the conclusion of my Carey Mulligan Trilogy. The film is directed by Mark Romanek and is set in an alternative dystopian future, in which clones are cultivated simply for their organs. The main leads star as three of these children who are living in a boarding school in england, and who become embroiled in a love triangle.

The film is set in a school in the English countryside, and it is refreshing to see a film set in a dystopian future, which is not violent or overly sci-fi, and which sacrifices shock factor for a tenderness and a beauty, rather than being 'edgily ugly'. The film concentrates on performance rather than large set pieces, and the main relationships are at the forefront.

The performances in the film are great, and the three leads shine, adding depth and subtlety to the roles they play, and allowing the audience to see themselves on screen, and allowing us to empathize with the characters. The film deals with themes of disillusionment, pain and loss. The characters live in a world in which death is certain, and where they know that they will die at some point in the next years, yet they still manage to see the beauty in the world. The characters are treated like trash by the world, and they are clones whose only purpose in the world is to   donate their organs, yet we still are able to see what the rest of the world can not.

Overall this is a good film, which despite being a little slow, contains great performances from it's leads, and which is a great story and is surprisingly different from other films of it's genre. I really enjoyed this film despite it's flaws, and it is worth a watch Rating: A-

Miss Emily: We didn't have to look into your souls, we had to see if you had souls at all.